Orchid School in Pune provides an enabling environment for children of all needs

In our final story in the Inclusive Schools series, we look at Pune's Orchid
School, where the belief is that given the right opportunity and a
productive, enabling environment, all children can learn.
And in this spirit, the school has an inclusive approach, not just towards
children with special needs, but also children from poor economic
backgrounds.

"The basic philosophy of the Orchid School is inclusive", says Namrata
Majhail, Principal, The Orchid School. "We believe that children must get an
exposure to all situations and people understand that inclusion is
the only way to progress in society. Children have to be sensitised
to the fact that they need to look after others."

This has been the school's approach since it was set up 14 years ago. There
are children here with learning disabilities as well as mobility
challenges. Every level has three sections and children with
disabilities are taught along with everyone else. "This way each child is
made aware of the need to look after each other", says Majhail. There are
regular orientations held to sensitise the children.

To ensure that children with physical disabilities have easy access, ramps
and lifts have been set up across the campus. Even the evacuation
plan in the event of an emergency has been framed keeping in mind the needs
of children with disabilities. Care is taken to think of every
situation where their needs are met with, says Majhail.

There are three special educators and four counsellors on board. New special
educators shadow the senior teachers before they are given responsibility for
a class.

"Many schools tend to see children with disabilities as an added
responsibility", says Majhail. "We prefer seeing them as an asset because
they help build greater awareness and empathy, not just
among the students but also the parents".

To view the other schools which were part of the Inclusive Schools series,
click below:

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Hi, I'm Bhavna Sharma. An Inclusion Strategist with Newz Hook. Yes, I am a person with disability. But that doesn’t define who I am. I am a youth, a woman and also the 1st Miss Disability of India 2013. I wanted to achieve something in life and I have been working for the last 9 years. I have recently completed my MBA in Human Resources because I want to grow. I am like every other young person in India. I want a good education, a good job and I want to help my family financially. So you can see I am like everyone else, yet people see me differently.

Here is the Ask Bhavna column for you where I would like to talk to you about the law, society and people’s attitudes and how we can build inclusion in India together.

So, if you have a question about any issue related to disability, bring them out and I can try to answer them? It could be a question relating to a policy or of a personal nature. Well, this is your space to find the answers!